Featured Physicians

Ophthalmologist and glaucoma specialist, Edward Barnett, MD, PhD, is a leader in performing trabeculotomy, a new and less invasive surgical treatment for glaucoma.

Susan Bayliss, MD, Professor of Medicine and Director of Pediatric Dermatology loves her job. She enjoys spending time with children of all ages. Children are open and honest and she likes the challenge of their individual dermatologic problems.

Dr. Anjali Bhorade is an assistant professor in the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences. She became interested in medicine while growing up and seeing her family deal with various eye conditions.

Melvin Blanchard, MD, became fascinated by medicine and its power to heal on the day his little sister critically injured her abdomen on a hook at their home in St. Kitts.

Dr. Steven Brandes is an associate professor in the Department of Surgery, the Division of Urologic Surgery. In addition to treating male and female urologic conditions with the full range of medical and surgical options, he is one of the few subspecialists in reconstructive urology in the Midwest.

Gregory Branham, M.D. is the division chief of facial plastic surgery in the Department of Otolaryngology. He specializes in cosmetic procedures such as rhinoplasty, mini facelifts, traditional facelifts, browlifts and blepharoplasty or eyelid surgery.

Nationally known geriatric specialist, David Carr, MD serves as a consultant and collaborator for Driving Connections – a driving assessment program for older and medically impaired drivers. He enjoys working with older adults and considers geriatrics a care, not a cure field.

Dr. Chapman heads up the abdominal transplant service at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, and is chief of Washington University Abdominal Transplantation Section. His specialty is liver disease, liver transplantation and has a special interest in image-guided surgery.

Taiwan born, Chien-Huan Chen, MD, PhD specializes in gastroenterology. He believes some of the best advice was given to him by his PhD thesis advisor, who told him to “follow his heart” and not be afraid to take risks.

Philip Custer, MD, a specialist in oculoplastic surgery, says cosmetic surgery is becoming more accepted for all ages of both men and women.

Themistocles Dassopoulos, MD has a special interest in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). He believes that a cure for IBD in our lifetime would be the greatest success.

Susan Deusinger, PhD – PT, is a professor of physical therapy and neurology, director of the Program in Physical Therapy and director for On the Move™ -- a physical therapy series with expertise in managing physical activity and exercise needs associated with obesity. Dr. Deusinger says we’re training for life – exercise has to be regular and it has to be forever.

Stephen Duntley, MD, neurologist and director of the Sleep Medicine Center at Washington University, says that the understanding of sleep and the ability to treat sleep disorders is a rapidly evolving field. A person that is completely disabled by sleepiness could have his or her life transformed with the proper treatment.

After watching his grandfather battle Parkinson’s disease, James E. Galvin, MD, MPH, decided to become a neurologist. In addition to serving as director of the Memory Diagnostic Center, he is involved in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease research.

Texas native, Keith Garcia, MD, PhD, specializes in adult and geriatric psychiatry. He says earning a patient’s trust and respect while helping them feel better is the most rewarding part of his job. He especially enjoys his older patients because they have a lifetime of history and a wealth of stories to tell.

William Gillanders, MD, a specialist in breast and endocrine surgery, believes it is important to have compassionate physicians to care for women with breast cancer. He says that breast cancer research over the last decade has made a great deal of progress towards the development of breast cancer vaccines.

Mark Halstead, M.D. a sports medicine physician, treats injuries in adolescents, weekend warriors, and professional athletes. He believes in listening to his patients. It puts them at ease and leads to a better diagnosis.

William Hawkins, M.D. is assistant professor in the Department of Surgery, specializing in benign and malignant diseases of the liver, biliary tract, pancreas and stomach. Dr. Hawkins also focuses on the management of soft-tissue sarcomas.

Dr. Hurst, a specialist in dermatologic surgery, uses the latest advances in laser technology to give skin cancer patients a better outcome after their treatment.

Heading up the Washington University Heart Care Institute in South County, Dr. Jain treats the full range of cardiac conditions to patients primarily from South County and Illinois.

Andrew Kates, M.D., cardiologist and long distance runner, believes physical activity is one of the most important ways to reduce the risks of heart disease.

Orthopedic surgeon, Jay Keener, who began his career as a physical therapist, believes rehab after surgery makes all the difference in a patient's recovery.

Pennsylvania native, Jennifer Lawton, MD, FACS, specializes in cardiothoracic surgery. She finds it rewarding to be able to improve someone’s health dramatically as a result of heart surgery. She is also a Barnes-Jewish Hospital “Caring Spirit Award” recipient – given to doctors and staff who show compassion and empathy.

Dr. Mahoney, a specialist in hospital medicine, works in partnership with a patient's primary physician to diagnoses and treat patients who are admitted to hospitals. In good hands, the patient's care is coordinated using all the hospital and medical consultant resources available.

Soe Soe Mar, M.D., pediatric neurologist, finds it very rewarding to see children get better with the correct medicines and lifestyle changes.

Dr. Brent Matthews is an associate professor in the Division of General Surgery, Section of Hepatobiliary Pancreatic Surgery. His special interest is minimally invasive surgery of the foregut and solid organs (GI tract, pancreas, gall gladder, liver) and esophageal motility disorders.

Daniel Mullady, MD, specializes in gastroenterology and endoscopy. He believes that spending extra time with his patients to talk about their diagnosis will have a positive impact on their journey into battling cancer. He tries to put himself in their place – in the hospital bed instead of standing next to it.

Dr. David Mutch heads a team of five gynecologic oncologists and a number of dedicated support staff who work everyday to help women overcome and survive gynecologic cancer.

South Dakota native Matthew Mutch, M.D. never thought of choosing anything other than surgery as a career. Now he is part of the team of colorectal surgeons at Washington University and finds his high expectations met.

Terry Myckatyn, MD, approaches new innovations in his field of plastic and reconstructive surgery with excitement and caution. He balances the best interests of his patients with the latest developments that are available in the market.

Anjali Pathak, MD, believes that the eyes are the window to the general health of the body. She feels the most interesting aspect of her practice is knowing when she’s impacted a patient’s life by improving their vision.

Dr. Piccirillo is a professor in the Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, with a wealth of experience in all phases of ear, nose and throat conditions. In his spare time he is a chef, at home.

Neurologist, Brad Racette, MD, says genetic research is giving us a better understanding of Parkinson’s disease. He believes the next important advance in the management of people with Parkinson’s disease will be medicines aimed at slowing its progression.

Craig K. Reiss, M.D., is nationally recognized as a gifted cardiologist and teacher. He sees the use of less invasive methods of diagnosing and treating heart disease as some of the most exciting developments in the field of cardiology.

K. Daniel Riew, M.D. the Mildred B. Simon Professor or Orthopaedic Surgery, chief of the Cervical Spine Center and director of the Cervical Spine Institute finds balance between work and family.

The best advice dermatologist David Sheinbein, M.D. received was that life is short and you don't know what will happen from day to day. With that in mind, he finds time to balance both his work and his family.

Dr. Shively specializes in Sports Medicine and all injuries pertaining to the knee. Also, he enjoys sports training on both the professional and high school level.

Barry Siegel, M.D. is professor of radiology and chief of the Division of Nuclear Medicine (Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology). Dr. Siegel is a pioneer in the development of the PET scan-positron emission tomography. His clinical expertise includes nuclear medicine, radionuclide imaging and radiodine treatment.

Carla Siegfried, MD, is a glaucoma specialist who has a passion for her patients and sees ophthalmology as her calling. She is one of two doctors in the area who are skilled in performing ab interno trabeculotomy with the Trabectome™– a new and less invasive surgical treatment for glaucoma.

As the EMS Section Chief for the division of Washington University Emergency Medicine, Dr. Tan works with ambulance crews and firefighters out in the field, even going on calls with them. He stresses the importance of having direct medical oversight for emergency workers – it greatly improves patient care.

Dr. Wade Thorstad combines knowledge with his passion for helping his patients in working as a radiation oncologist. He is a specialist in the radiologic treatment of cancers of the head, neck and thorax.

Originally from New York, Dr. Valente is now a converted Midwesterner. His specialty is adult audiology and helping patients overcome hearing loss through hearing aid technology. The loves of his life are his wife and two daughters.

Suresh Vedantham M.D. is associate professor in the Department of Radiology. He specializes in the treatment of deep vein thrombosis and varicose veins. Dr. Vendantham believes the best advice he has received was "to look beyond my own subspecialty and focus on how I can use my abilities to improve patient care in a collaborative fashion".

As a specialist in geriatric medicine, Consuelo Hopkins Wilkins, MD, MSci, enjoys getting to know her patients and spending one-on-one time with them. Dr. Wilkins believes we have to change society’s mindset that poor health comes with growing older-- we can still be healthy, no matter what our age.

Neill M. Wright, M.D. is an assistant professor in the Departments of Neurological Surgery and Orthopaedics. He has pioneered new techniques in minimally invasive neurological and spine surgery.

Rick W. Wright, MD, team physician for the St. Louis Rams and St. Louis Blues, has a special interest in ACL revision reconstruction.

Neurosurgeon and Red Bud, Illinois native, Gregory Zipfel, MD, says Washington University is one of the leaders in the field for using the new, less invasive, endoscopic approaches to remove pituitary tumors and other tumors of the skull base.